UniPro's National Statement on Anti-Asian Sentiment

We, Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc. (UniPro), wish to express our concern and frustration regarding the recent acts of racial injustice that have impacted the Asian community in the United States. Examples of these acts include the death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee after being assaulted in San Francisco, the attack of 61-year-old Noel Quintana at a New York subway station, and countless others that have occurred thus far. There exists a long history of xenophobia against Asians that has long been neglected, such as the deaths of Vincent Chin in 1982 and Joseph Ileto in 1999. The COVID-19 pandemic has only amplified this violence, with crimes against Asians rising by 1900%. As an organization that envisions a unified and engaged America, we refuse to remain silent during this time of duress in our country for without unity, there is no progress.

UniPro stands in solidarity with all those impacted by this surge of violence and demands that justice be served by prosecuting those responsible for these heinous acts. There is a need for accountability and acknowledgment of the white supremacy existent in this country. We actively detest this inequity that holds the community back from further growth and strive to educate each other with the proper knowledge to create change. UniPro pledges to continue providing a safe space for dialogue so that all may have a platform to speak their truth.

In efforts to remain proactive in effectively combating these issues, we encourage everyone to take action in your respective communities. Be an upstander if you witness racism, discrimination, harassment, assault, or any other atrocity. Everyone has the potential to make a difference so we must all work to dismantle a system that suppresses us and tell our stories when the media will not. Make your voices heard as they are powerful when we take the initiative to unite as one.

For more information, please see the following:

Asian Americans Advancing Justice www.standagainsthatred.org

A3PCON, CAA, & SFSU Reporting Center www.stopaapihate.org

National Coalition of AAPI Community Organizations www.nationalcapacd.org

OneNation AAPI on Rising Anti-Asian Racism www.onenationaapi.com/commission-report-ii

Pew Research Center Data on Asian Americans www.pewresearch.org/topics/asian-americans

“In a time of destruction, create something” - Maxine Hong Kingston

In solidarity,

Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc.

New York | San Diego | Chicago | Seattle | Texas

UniPro's Election 2020 Statement

UniPro Presents: Filipino American History Month 2020

UniPro is celebrating Filipino-American History Month (#FAHM) by recognizing various organizations and heroes that have impacted the Filipinx diaspora through advocacy, entertainment, education and more. Join us in celebrating FAHM by uplifting, sharing, and learning about the forces of our community throughout the month of October, right here on @unipronow. #UniProFAHM2020

Malaya Movement

October 1st Highlight

The Malaya Movement is a broad movement of individuals, organizations and various formations united under the common objectives of defending human rights, democracy and sovereignty in the Philippines. The Malaya Movement condemns moves to establish a Duterte-led “revolutionary government”. The Movement calls on the people to oppose any maneuvers to further give the tyrant in Malacanang any more dictatorial powers.

For more information on Malaya Movement, visit https://www.malayamovement.com/

Amado Canham Rodriguez

October 2nd Highlight

In the months before his untimely death, Amado learned and lived with the farmers and Mangyan indigenous communities in Mindoro island. He stood alongside them in their fight for their lands, livelihood and ancestral domain. Amado’s commitment to social justice began with his leadership and participation in the Movement for Black Lives. He then became active in working in solidarity with the Filipino people in their fight for genuine democracy in the Philippines. 2 years ago, at the age of 20, Amado decided to further pursue his advocacy by living and working in the Philippines. We invite you to read on and once you’ve read his story, to share it.

For more information, visit http://tinyURL.com/FinalAmadoObituary

Professor John Delloro

October 5th Highlight

Nationally recognized labor leader John Delloro made a profound impact on the Asian American community. While studying at UCLA, he was a well-known student leader and activist and co-founded the Pilipino Workers Center in Los Angeles. He was an organizer of the Jessica McClintock Boycott after the clothing manufacturer refused to pay the wages of Asian immigrant garment workers who had already rendered their services. Upon graduating from UCLA with a master’s degree in Asian American Studies, he became an organizer for the Service Employees International Union, where he helped workers in California and Las Vegas unionize, including at the hospital where his mother worked. He would later become the first director of the Dolores Huerta Labor Institute, a Los Angeles Community College District multicampus program, where he worked at all nine campuses to advance labor studies and organize for worker rights. He also taught some of the most popular courses for UCLA Asian American Studies and the Los Angeles Trade Technical College Labor Studies program. In 2009, Delloro became one of the youngest presidents of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO. He was an inspiring and dedicated teacher and mentor to countless students, organizers, and rank-and-file workers, and a brilliant labor leader.

For more information, visit https://www.elac.edu/CEWD/John-Delloro-Transfer-Program-in-Social-Justice

Christy Panis Poisot

October 6th Highlight

Christy Poisot has worked for Shell Oil Company for 17 years in Strategy, Planning and Appraisal IT Information Risk Management. She is an Asian Pacific American Women Leadership Institute Fellow (APAWLI) for the Center for Asian Pacific American Women (CAPAW). Christy serves as a liaison to the Houston Filipino community to collect oral history for Rice University’s Chao Center for Asian Studies known as the Houston Asian American Archive (HAAA), inspiring her to co-author Filipinos in Houston. Her work then landed her an Advisory Board Member role for that very same Chao Center. She was instrumental in the passing of the Congressional Gold Medal act for Filipino Veterans who served in WWII.

For more information on The Congressional Gold Medal (CGM), visit https://www.filvetrep.org/congressional-gold-medal

Ditas Katague

October 7th Highlight

Ditas Katague is the Director of the California Complete Count – Census 2020 Office, the outreach and communications campaign to ensure a complete count of the hardest-to-count Californians. In 2019, she was recently recognized in the Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 most powerful movers and shakers in California politics. While serving under four California Governors, she has led California’s Census efforts since 2000. From 2012-2018, she served on the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee (NAC) on Race, Ethnicities and Other Populations, including serving as Chair from 2015-2018. On October 2nd, due to a court ordered deadline extension, data collection will continue through October, 31, 2020. If you have not response to the 2020 Census, you have until October 31.

For more information on the US Census, please visit www.my2020census.gov

PJ Raval

PJ Raval is an award-winning filmmaker who grew up as a queer, first-generation Filipino American in a small, white, conservative town in California’s central valley. PJ’s work explores the overlooked subcultures and identities within the already marginalized LGBTQ+ community. Named one of Out Magazine’s ‘OUT 100′ and IndieWIRE’s ‘25 LGBT Filmmakers on the Rise 2019’, PJ’s body of film work has been distributed widely internationally and has been supported by the Guggenheim Foundation, Bertha Foundation, Arcus Foundation, Sundance, Center for Asian-American Media, Tribeca Film Institute, Firelight Media, PBS, and the Ford Foundation. PJ’s latest film CALL HER GANDA is a feature documentary following the story of Jennifer Laude, a local transgender woman who was found dead in a motel room in the port city of Olongopo, Philippines with a 19-year-old U.S. marine as the leading suspect. CALL HER GANDA world premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival followed by an international premiere at HotDocs in Toronto, Canada. CALL HER GANDA recently aired on POV reaching millions of PBS viewers across the US and continues to make its way into classrooms and community screenings across the world.

Stella Abrera

First Pinay principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater. Founder of a charity, Steps Forward for the Philippines, which helped a school in nearby Guiuan that had been destroyed in a super typhoon. Mentor and sponsor to Filipino ballet students.

For more information, visit https://www.pointemagazine.com/stella-abrera-charity-philippines-2412820774.html

Rob Bonta

The first Filipino-American to ever be elected to the California Legislature. Bonta was born in the Philippines and moved with his family when he was a young boy. He grew up in a trailer near Cesar Chavez's home and his passion for justice and equality was embedded in him at a young age, with his parents as his influencers. Despite socio-economic difficulties, was able to attend Yale College and Yale Law School (#1 law school in the nation).As a lawyer, he fought to protect Californians from exploitation and racial profiling. Later in his career, as a state legislator, Bonta continued his work to promote California's values of justice, inclusion, equity, and opportunity. He is currently the Assemblyman for California's 18th District of Alamda, Oakland, & San Leandro. For more information, please visit: https://a18.asmdc.org/biography

Marías at Sampaguitas

Marias at Sampaguitas in an online literary magazine that aims to elevate and highlight the creative voices of marginalized individuals, people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, non-binary identifying folx, and everyone in between. It was created with the intent to be a safe space.

For more information, please visit https://mariasatsampaguitas.wixsite.com/marias

Alex S. Fabros, Jr.

Recently featured in the Asian Americans PBS documentary series, Alex S. Fabros Jr. is a former Professor of Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University, who established the Filipino American Experience Research Project in 1992. During his early life, Fabros worked as a migrant farmer and was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps in 1965. He retired as an officer from the U.S. Army in 1992. Fabros grew up in the City of Salinas and earned an MA in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University, an MA in History and completed his Ph.D. studies at University California Santa Barbara. He is also a graduate of the Monterey Defense Language Institute obtaining proficiency and certifications in Chinese Mandarin, Korean and Vietnamese. Mr. Fabros currently resides in Fresno California.

Pilipino Workers Center

Founded in 1997, Pilipino Workers Center (PWC) is a non-profit that organizes the low-wage Pilipino community in Southern California to demand better living and working conditions. In this current national and political climate where immigrant rights are being attacked and quickly eroded, domestic workers are pushed even more into vulnerable and exploitative working situations. PWC does their part by providing support for human trafficking survivors, immigration legal services, affordable housing, workforce certification training, education on workers’ rights, enforcement of wage theft, free tax preparation, and a cooperative for homecare workers. Although most of their work is in LA and San Diego, we have assisted clients across the country.

Joanna Po

Joanna Villarena Po was born on September 11, 1943 in Balasan, Iloilo, Philippines, one of ten children. Of her five brothers and four sisters she was the only one who came to America on her own, but she eventually sponsored two of her brothers to come later in life. When she was younger, her brother helped her complete her bachelor's degree in nursing in the Philippines. Afterwards she arrived in Houston TX during the 1960s at the height of segregation to work at Houston Methodist Hospital. She received her master's degree at Texas Woman's University. Despite the overt racism, Po created the role of 'Radiology Nursing' and co-founded the Association for Radiologic and Imaging Nursing; literally writing the book on Nursing Radiology after a traumatic incident which endangered a patient. Her lecture series is available on https://edu.arinursing.org/ . She has surpassed racial odds, raised a family, and after retirement, is still is active in Nursing Associations and Conferences across the country. She is a lifelong member of FANHS HTX. For more information, please visit https://mypnaafoundation.org/

Ruby Ibarra

A Filipina American rapper and spoken word artist, born in Tacloban City, Philippines and immigrated to the United States in the early 1990s, Ruby takes her musical artistry in her lyrics by tackling the issues and concerns on race, identity, colonialism, cultural heritage, and her experiences as an immigrant. Known for her sharp lyricism and rhythmic multi-syllabic flow, Ruby attributes her musical identity during the 90s, constantly listening to Tupac, Eminem, and Wu-Tang Clan on the radio and television. She instantly knew rap and hip hop was the best way to express herself. As a teenager, Ruby began crafting her own rhymes until she began to develop her own style and became comfortable with sharing her experiences and story. In 2010, she began releasing videos on YouTube, which created attraction after several of them were featured on XXL Magazine and Worldstar Hip Hop. Her videos, “Game Up” and “Dosey Doe” each reached over 100,000 views and eventually garnering the attention of DJ Kay Slay, who gave her the nickname, “Hip Hop.” In 2015, she officially signed with Beatrock Music, an independent record label, and released her first debut album, Circa 1991 the following year, which documents social justice issues such as immigration and trauma. In 2018, she worked on a few projects with The Filipino Channel (TFC), Kasayahan Festival in Daly City, CA, and Gifts of Love on ABS-CBN. Her latest documentary, “Nothing On Us: Pinays Rising,” was featured in multiple countries and film festivals. Ruby is one of the few Filipina Americans from the States that gained traction among Filipinos from around the world. She is currently working on her second album, which surrounds the events in both the U.S. and the Philippines. As of June 2020, she is also involved with developing a vaccine for COVID-19.

UniPro's National Statement on Black Lives Matter

Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc (UniPro) stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and Black communities. What has happened over the last few days and weeks is a reminder of the injustices that they face every day. It is important that we are allies for them, use our voices and say enough is enough. 

We pledge and continue to offer and provide a safe space for dialogue and discussion, and to speak against anti-blackness and racism within our own communities to ensure we are creating meaningful and sustainable change. 

Please reach out to your local resources and Black community organizations for continuing information and education as protests and events continue moving forward. Please continue to to make your voice heard and vote in local and federal elections. Our voices are so much more powerful when we do this together. Please do not remain silent. 

In solidarity, 

Pilipino American Unity for Progress, Inc. (UniPro)Uni